Historic House Museums in Maine

We try to keep this list of historic house museums for Maine current, but it is best to check directly with the museums for their hours and other information. If you know of a historic house museum in Maine that should be listed here, please use our submission form to let us know about it.

Bethel

Built in 1813, this fine Federal-style house with Rufus Porter School wall murals was long the home of Dr. Moses Mason, physician and U.S. Congressman, and his wife, Agnes Straw. The front portion of the Mason House contains nine period rooms furnished to reflect the era of the Mason's occupancy (1813-1869). Here one will see some of the finest examples from the Society's decorative arts collection, including portraits of Dr. and Mrs. Mason by the prominent nineteenth century artist Chester Harding.

Jonathan Fisher (1768-1847) was the first settled Congregational minister of the small village of Blue Hill, Maine. Fisher was also an artist, farmer, scientist, mathematician, surveyor, and writer of prose and poetry. Today, at the charming homestead he designed in 1814 for his growing family, you will see the life’s work of this ‘Versatile Yankee’.

Bridgton

Artist, musician, teacher, inventor and publisher, Rufus Porter (1792-1884) thought well ahead of his time. His artistic life began as a painter of miniature portraits, then came his famous wall murals of the mountain, farm and lake landscapes around Bridgton, his childhood home, and Portland Harbor.The Museum is the only entity devoted to his work and displays his 1828 murals as well as other examples of his remarkable career. He founded the Scientific American magazine in 1845 to encourage the innovations which were vital to the Industrial Revolution.

Brunswick

The museum is the adult home of Joshua L. Chamberlain and his family. Chamberlain was the hero of Little Round Top at Gettysburg during the Civil War, Governor of Maine, and President of Bowdoin College. Guided tours explore Chamberlain’s life, family and career.

The Skolfield-Whittier House has a unique and wondrous story. Two brothers whose family made its fortune building ships and freighting goods around the world completed it between 1858 and 1862. Each brother lived on one side of this semi-detached structure. One half of the house was eventually sold off to a succession of owners, the last of which is now the Pejepscot Historical Society. Three generations of Skolfields and Whittiers made their home in the other half now the Skolfield-Whittier House. It remains to this day a time capsule of Victorian America. As one moves through each room, the completeness of the house’s collection of art and artifacts becomes more apparent. There are very few such homes where the entire estate of a Victorian sea captain’s family and that of his descendants are preserved as though the original occupants might return at any time to throw open the windows and resume their lives.

Castine

Year Built: 1763Admission Price: See their websiteHours: See their website

The Wilson Museum was founded by Dr. John Howard Wilson. Dr. Wilson spent most of his youth in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, NY and Nantucket, he came first to Castine with his mother, Cassine Cartwright Wilson, in 1891. By 1906 Dr. Wilson had received from Columbia University, a Ph.D. in geology, was married and had a summer home on Nautilus Island, across the harbor from his mother’s house in Castine. In 1921 Mrs. Wilson gave the west end of her lot to build a museum for Dr. Wilson’s collections. Three other buildings were added to the property in the late 1960s: The John Perkins House, Blacksmith Shop and a small exhibit building.

Columbia Falls

The Ruggles House, designed by housewright Aaron S. Sherman of Marshfield, Massachusetts, was built 1818-1820 for Judge Thomas Ruggles, a wealthy lumber dealer, postmaster, captain of the local militia and Justice of the Court of Sessions for Washington County. This particularly lovely example of Adamesque style Federal period architecture is remarkable for its location as well as its survival.

Ellsworth

Charming and intimate, yet unassuming, a visit to Birdsacre is a unique and meaningful experience, perfect for children and adults, outdoors enthusiasts, bird lovers, and history buffs. Here you will hear the charming tales of a prominent family that bore a brilliant Pioneer Ornithologist, and be dazzled by hawks and owls set within a park-like sanctuary.

Year Built: 1824Admission Price: Adults $10, Children $3Hours: See their website

Woodlawn is a 180-acre historic estate located a quarter mile from downtown Ellsworth, Maine. Once home to three generations of the Black family, it is now treasured for its historic house museum, its gardens, and its public park. Visitors can explore a superb historic house, stroll through beautiful gardens, play croquet, hike on pristine trails, and much more.

1853 mansion with original furnishings and period French wallpaper. This was the home of the Perkins and Nott families and portrays life of an affluent family during Kennebunkport's hey day as a working port.

Livermore

The Washburn-Norlands Living History Center is a living museum and working farmstead operating under methods of the 1800’s. The entire estate is has been preserved to maintain its original splendor created by the Washburn Family. There are five original buildings including the Mansion, Library, School House, Meeting House and Carriage House.

Machiasport

Built in 1810, the Nathan Gates House is home to the Machiasport Historical Society. The museum contains an extensive collection of old photographs, period furniture , housewares and other memorabilia. There is also a genealogical library.

Portland

The Neal Dow Memorial, 714 Congress Street, Portland Maine, was the lifelong home of Neal Dow, one of the great men of the reform movement of the nineteenth century. The late Federal style mansion was built in 1829 for the occupancy of Neal Dow and his bride, Maria Cornelia Durant Maynard. The residence was a center of political and humanitarian activity. From here the zealous reformer set out on countless journeys throughout Maine, over much of the nation, and finally abroad in the cause of temperance.

Year Built: 1755Admission Price: Adults $8, Seniors $6, Children $3Hours: See their website

Tate House was built in 1755 for Captain George Tate (1700-1794) and his family, which had recently arrived in the Colonies from Britain. With its clapboards still unpainted, Tate House is one of two residences in Maine with an unusual indented gambrel roof. As the only pre-Revolutionary home in Greater Portland that is open to the public, the impressive period furnishings, beautiful grounds and herb gardens, and unique architecture of Tate House offer an insightful glimpse at the 18th century and life in Colonial Maine.

Year Built: 1785Admission Price: Adults $12, Seniors & Students $10, Children $3Hours: See their website

Within its walls lived three generations of one remarkable family that made significant contributions to the political, literary, and cultural life of New England and the United States. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), grew up in the house and went on to become one of the most famous men of his time.

Also known as the Morse-Libby House, the Mansion was built between 1858 and 1860 as a summer home for Ruggles Sylvester Morse, a Maine native who made his fortune in New Orleans as the proprietor of luxury hotels.

Rockland

Year Built: 1850Admission Price: See their websiteHours: See their website

Museum admission includes the Farnsworth Homestead which is next door and is an example of Greek Revival architecture. Built in 1850, it contains many of the original family furnishings. The museum also owns the Olson House. Painter Andrew Wyeth created many of his best-loved works at the Olson House, the home of Christina Olson and her brother Alvaro. Christina's World, painted at the house in 1948 and now owned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, is perhaps his best-know work painted there. The Olson House is located 14.5 miles from the museum in Cushing, ME

South Berwick

Shipping merchant Jonathan Hamilton built this striking Georgian mansion c. 1785. Its picturesque situation on a bluff overlooking the Salmon Falls River made it an ideal location for Hamilton’s shipping business and, more than a hundred years later, for the summer retreat of Emily Tyson and her stepdaughter Elise.

Writer Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) spent much of her life in this stately Georgian residence, owned by her family since 1819. Jewett drew on the house for inspiration for her novel Deephaven and often wrote at the desk in the upper hall overlooking the active town center.

Southport

Built by John Cameron circa 1810, the central building remained in the Cameron family for 100 years. They were a family of fishermen. One year their vessels flew the “high line”, signifying that they had taken more fish than any other Southport family.

Standish

In 1796, young Daniel Marrett, a recent Harvard graduate, moved to Standish, Maine, to become the town minister. He purchased the most imposing house in town to reflect his status as the community's leading citizen. Three generations of the Marrett family remained in the house for nearly one hundred and fifty years.

Wiscasset

Built in 1807 and in need of updating at the time the Tuckers moved in, the house was redecorated and furnished to satisfy modern Victorian taste and sensibilities. With a reversal of fortune that came at the end of the nineteenth century, the family was forced to take in summer boarders in order to survive. Due to limited financial resources, the interiors have remained largely unchanged from this time, making Castle Tucker one of the most intact Victorian-era homes in New England.

Located on Wiscasset's Main Street, the Nickels-Sortwell House is one of the region's finest examples of high Federal-style architecture. Built by successful ship owner Captain William Nickels, the house epitomizes the brief period when shipbuilding and the maritime trade brought wealth and sophisticated tastes to this coastal Maine village.

York

Year Built: Admission Price: See their websiteHours: See their website

Offering thirty-seven period room settings and several galleries housed throughout nine historic museum buildings, the Museums of Old York showcases a wealth of early New England art, architecture, and decorative arts. The exhibits focus on the stories of southern Maine's men, women, and children and the world they created and lived in from the earliest settlement in the 1600s to the present day.

The Sayward-Wheeler House overlooks the York River, which was ideal for shipping merchant Jonathan Sayward, who purchased the house in 1720. In addition to being a successful businessman, Sayward was a judge and leading citizen in York. He enjoyed great community respect, although his Loyalist views were in the minority during the years leading up to the American Revolution.